In a move aimed against Shor party members, Moldova's parliament approved an amendment to the Electoral Code to bar "specific people" from the local elections in its first and second readings.

"Parliament today declared a total dictatorship in Moldova, where laws and courts have no force and there is no constitutional framework," he wrote on Facebook.

Marina Tauber, his most prominent political ally and a candidate for mayor next month in Moldova's second largest city, Balti, denounced the move as "sad and pitiful".

A government commission on emergency situations headed by Prime Minister Dorin Recean had earlier on Wednesday ordered such a list to be drawn up "to ensure democratic processes in the upcoming elections and eliminate the danger to the state".

Shor was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in jail in April over a $1 billion bank scandal and money laundering, and the United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on him.

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